Great Expectations

After some mild salary negotiations over the past two days, I formally accepted the position assisting the VP Digital Advertising Sales and the AVP, Director of Marketing. One is widely acclaimed and respected in the online advertising world and the latter was named one of the top 25 women to watch in Advertising Age.

I didn't get exactly what I wanted in terms of salary, but my employers did make a decent effort to meet me halfway, which ended up being a difference of $5k. Plus, I will receive paid overtime, which will actually put me over my asking price. It's a great salary by North Carolina standards, a good salary by Florida standards and a decent salary by New York City standards. In other words, I'm not moving to Tribeca and buying a Rolex watch tomorrow, but I can afford to live comfortably, save adequately and have a social life (which is very expensive here).

On Monday, I will officially be a permanent employee of the company for which I have been temping for three full months. And starting at 12:01 am, I can finally rest easy that if I am hit by a city bus - and survive - that I will have adequate medical insurance to cover the subsequent bills. I am now also shopping around for a dentist and a family practice doctor, and I'm taking suggestions.

I wish I could say that this job opportunity presented itself because I'm just that good, but I have simply had extraordinary luck. And quite frankly, the bottom line is that my bosses are taking a leap of faith in hiring me because I am somewhat unqualified for the job I am undertaking. In fact, I would be willing to bet that if I had submitted my resume without any prior interaction with the company (through the staffing agency), I would have never been considered. I mean, my background is a bachelor's degree and three years working in higher education administration - not advertising sales and marketing.

And then today, while I was doing competitive advertising analysis (a.k.a dog-earring pages in a competitor's magazine that features advertisers whom our sales team needs to pursue), I paused to read the editor's note. She had listed, in no particular order, a list of gifts she had received that money can't buy - one of which that read:

"The moment my former boss Laurie agreed to let me interview the actress Marisa Tomei for a major national magazine when I had absolutely no experience and then promoted me to a job for which I was largely unqualified, all because she saw things in me that I did not yet see in myself."

I don't know what exactly my bosses may see in me, but I hope it's what they get.

Prior to moving to New York City 3 1/2 months ago, I fully expected to be working in some arbitrary job, sending resumes everywhere and going on interviews several times a week. I think the greatest expectation is to expect nothing. I came here expecting just that and got something a little bit better and very much unexpected. I guess you have to dive into the unknown without expectations sometimes ... then there's less chance for disappointment and the only direction is up.